Preston: No water, no sewer for building straddling line on former Norwich Hospital property

Preston - Town officials will put any future buyers of the Norwich portion of the former Norwich Hospital property on notice that part of one building is in Preston and that they should not expect to find any working water or sewer service from the Preston side of the campus.

The Board of Selectmen on Thursday approved an affidavit to be signed by First Selectman Robert Congdon and Preston Redevelopment Agency Chairman Sean Nugent that will be placed on Norwich land records.

Copies of the affidavit will also be sent to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and the Department of Administration Services, Congdon said. The state still owns the Norwich portion of the former hospital property.

Congdon said the issue surfaced when the PRA was working on demolition plans for various hospital property buildings and found that the Mitchell Building is 90 percent in Preston and 10 percent in Norwich.

Nugent said the PRA site development committee brought the issue to DAS officials and asked for a partnership to tear down that building. Nugent told selectmen Thursday that state officials were not interested in tearing the building down.

"They said 'you can deal with the new owner whenever the closing takes place,'" Nugent said.

State officials told Norwich city leaders in March 2012 that at least one developer had offered to purchase all or part of the nearly 50 acres offered for sale for $300,000. State officials have not released any details of the offer and have told Norwich and Preston officials that no information would be released until a contract was signed.

Congdon said when the hospital was open, sewage was pumped from throughout the campus, including the Norwich buildings, to a pumping station in Preston before it was pumped to the Norwich sewage treatment plant. Water likewise was circulated through the campus from the Preston portion of the campus. Neither of those systems remains in operation, Congdon said.

"We want a potential buyer to know that Preston has no obligation to provide water and sewer to that property," Congdon said.